Next version of OS X to be more iOS-like than ever with Mountain Lion

Apple plans to release the next major version of Mac OS X to users this summer …

Apple significantly accelerated the upgrade cycle for Mac OS X on Thursday, announcing just seven months after the release of Lion that the next major version of OS X will be available in summer 2012. Dubbed Mountain Lion (we note no mention of a version number, like 10.8), the new OS will bring even more iOS-like features to the Mac, including Messages, Notes, and Reminders. Registered Mac developers have access to the first developer preview starting today.

Mountain Lion will offer increased integration between iOS and OS X. A new Messages app replaces iChat, which can send messages, video, and images between Macs and iOS devices (yes, iMessage has come to the desktop). According to Apple, Messages will continue to support AIM, Jabber, Yahoo Messenger, and Google Talk. A beta version of Messages is available to all Lion users starting today (thought at the time of publishing the download is currently unavailable).

Notification Center on Mac OS X Mountain Lion is hidden under the Desktop.

Mountain Lion will also include Mac versions of Notes, Reminders, Game Center, Notification Center, Share Sheets, OS-wide Twitter integration, and AirPlay Mirroring. Many of the new apps, such as Notes, Reminders, and Messages, will sync seamlessly with iOS devices and other Macs connected to your iCloud account. Game Center will enable live multiplayer gameplay between Macs, iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches.

Share Sheets will let users share and tweet links, photos, and videos from any app that supports them, including Safari, Quick Look, Preview, and more. Third party developers will be able to add Share Sheet support to their own apps as well. Notification Center will centralize alerts from apps like Mail, Calendar, and Reminders, as well as offering a centralized API for developers to send alerts as well (so long, Growl). Finally, AirPlay Mirroring enables any Mac to send a 720p video stream to an Apple TV (though apparently not to an iOS device).

AirPlay Mirroring sends a 720p stream of your desktop to any Apple TV.

Mountain Lion includes additional improvements, like updated iCloud support. In addition to offering a single sign-in to set up Contacts, Mail, Calendar, Messages, FaceTime, and Find My Mac, improved iCloud Documents APIs will make it easier to keep files stored in iCloud updated across Macs and iOS devices. There's also improved Chinese language support, including access to common services like Baidu, QQ, Youku, Tudou, Sina weibo, as well as enhancements to Chinese input.

An interesting new feature called Gatekeeper is designed to offer improved security for installed third-party apps. Essentially, Gatekeeper can be configured to install apps from any source, from developers with a special developer ID provided by Apple labeling them as "trusted," or strictly from the Mac App Store. Users have expressed concern since the introduction of the Mac App Store that Apple would eventually limit all app downloads to those from the Store; while Gatekeeper could be viewed as another step towards that goal, we think it provides some level of granularity in controlling what sources a user can get apps from. Furthermore, it will likely be a welcome feature in enterprise settings, where admins could limit access as required by security policies without completely eliminating the ability for users to install apps themselves.

Gatekeeper will let users set their Mac to install any app, apps from "trusted" sources, or Mac App Store only.

Developers gain access to "hundreds" of new APIs, many of which debuted on iOS 5, such as GLKit for integration OpenGL support. Other APIs include GameKit, 64-bit QuickTime, and enhanced multitouch. Mountain Lion will also include a revamped graphics subsystem and improved address space layout randomization for better security.

As noted, Mac OS X Mountain Lion is expected to be released this summer, and will likely be a $29.99 purchase via the Mac App Store.

While I hope WiDi takes off, right now it isn't the same as what I was hoping for. It requires i3/i5/i7 CPUs (which our company only has a few) AND the box itself is more expensive than the Apple TV. Plus it does nothing for our mac and iPad users.

An Apple TV w/ a hacked client for windows would let anyone in the company share their screen wirelessly - Mac, Windows, or iPad.

(That said I would REALLY prefer some third party make up something that works with everything, so Android users won't get left out...)

The inference of maximum security being only attainable through the App Store seems libelous, false ( http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/ ... curity.ars ), and made to create a kind of monopoly. They're basically making a totally untrue statement on their site, in order to lead users to buy apps through their portal, instead of somewhere else. This is very iffy.

Disappointing.. for power users who have been disappointed by Lion don't fall for the FUD, linux really is ready for your desktop if you're not cool with the tabletification/lockdown that Apple/MS are going for..

Mainstream apps are fine.. it's really only if you're absolutely tied to Adobe Apps, or you are a video editor or a pro photographer that you are probably screwed on Linux. Photography is probably not that far away given that linux has decent color management now. If you are not in one of those specific areas linux will be even more convenient as it has a massive array of software that is just a yum or apt-get away and stability is much better IMO. OSX can suck pretty hard when things go south.

Lion made me switch to Linux + OSX instead of a pure OSX environment at home. This one may make me sell my Mac Pro. I'd rather be gone before apple gets to where it appears they are headed.

Surprised people aren't more excited by the fact that they are now limiting key APIs to applications that come from the App Store.

From Daring Fireball: "I’m interested to see how developer support for Mac App Store-only features plays out. Two big ones: iCloud document storage and Notification Center. Both of these are slated only for third-party apps from the Mac App Store. " (Source: http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion)

Gatekeeper strikes me as a smart solution, that has minimal impact on self-distribution (you can always get a key), but limiting APIs serves no purpose that I can see other than to discourage App makers from distributing on their own. Whether that's a smart solution, depends on what side of the walled garden you like to be on.

Hm, that is interesting. Are the only APIs affected those that relate to Apple-hosted services? I can understand why Apple would want to personally vet code that wants to access such services.

I'm not sure. That might make sense for iCloud, but I'd be surprised if notification center required any Apple-hosted services to run. Almost seems analogous to if Windows were to require software to be vetted and be able to receive a cut of revenue, for being able to use Windows notifications. Maybe I don't understand notification center fully, I'm not a Mac user (which isn't to say that I'm anti-Apple).

I know snapshots make the backend (rsync and hardlinks?) obsolete. What I want is TM where the backend is snapshots!!

To be clear, you can use the TM interface to browse a "Snapshot Depot", which is how the autosnapshots are stored in ZEVO, so there is a GUI on it. You can also of course just browse that from the Finder.

Quote:

Encryption is not an option for me on my laptop. I am the net admin for a large enterprise. The crap on my laptop cannot walk around unencrypted but I also use it as my primary personal laptop. Pictures, music, etc, etc.

If you require FDE then ZFS isn't an option right now, period, and you'll have to wait. Encrypted disk images/bundles though can run on anything, which may or may not meet your needs.

Quote:

I just don't see anyone but ZFS from Apple addressing these concerns.

I don't know why you think so, Apple wouldn't contribute anything to some of that except to maybe make it go faster. It's not like other third party RAID drivers and such with full bootability haven't been done in the past either. A lot will depend on the wider project and health of ZFS, but I don't think that's too far a leap. As I said though, no problem waiting for 1.1 or 2.0 . And who knows, seeing it done Apple may choose to start integrating it more.

Quote:

Also I know NO ONE else cares but I really like file system ACLs.

I use them a lot.

Quote:

As far as I know the open source version of ZFS does not include ACLs.

I have seen no issues with ACLs at all. I think your information is out of date.

Lion already feels like an OS on training wheels with user-friendly, eye-candyish features taking over power-user features and breaking all sorts of established workflows (eg mission control replaces spaces, removed/replaced gestures, etc). OSX has been officially crippled.

Quite frankly, Spaces felt like an ugly, half-assed messed (it even /looks/ like something you'd have expected to see from GNOME in the mid-90s!). I use Mission Control extensively, and would definitely hate to try to use 'Spaces' now, it's just so trivially easy to integrated into a very variable workflow.

So many people complain about Lion (well, a couple loudly on Internet forums), but I've never seen a quantification beyond "they're making it too iOS like!" (without saying how, or why that's bad) or "they changed it so it sucks!".

You are fixating on the 'pretty' and disregarding the 'functional'. Mission control would have been a good move if it worked/was designed properly. Here are couple of examples about the issues myself and others have with it:

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

2- Mission control does not integrate properly with multiple displays. I have my Macbook connected to a 24" LCD monitor while at the same time using the built-in LCD as a second monitor. It is not possible to switch items living on the second LCD (the Macbook) to a different space from within that desktop. It does not let you do it period. You first have to move the item to the space used by your main monitor before you can relocate it to a different space. This is VERY cumbersome and clearly not a good implementation. Workflow broken

3- Mission control does not integrate properly with full-screen apps. Try running an app in full screen mode (eg Itunes) and launch mission control - see what happens. The app is not available for relocation. Workflow broken

I can't help but think the accelerated release cycle is to steal the march on Microsoft with all the Windows 8/Metro buzz for this year.

Get their own integration between iOS and OSX further along so Win8 doesn't look quite as much a big deal.

This. It's a good marketing move. Just when MS is going to convince people to upgrade or buy a new computer, Apple gets to contrast 10.8 with deep iCloud / iOS integration against Win8 with... with... a new app launcher and integrated app store? (I know there's more to win8, but many consumers won't know or care).

Smart competitive move, and I have no doubt the timing is not a coincidence.

The inference of maximum security being only attainable through the App Store seems libelous, false ( http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/ ... curity.ars ), and made to create a kind of monopoly. They're basically making a totally untrue statement on their site, in order to lead users to buy apps through their portal, instead of somewhere else. This is very iffy.

Please learn what libel means.

Look it up, I know what it means.

They're misrepresenting facts in a way that will damage business of those who decide to sell applications outside of their App Store.

Also, we already had an OS X named after the mountain lion: Mac OS X 10.2 Puma.

They had 10.3 Panther too. Maybe 10.10 will be Cougar? Or Catamount?

No Cougar will be about 10.48, when things are really dragging and just being held together with annual "fixup" releases. plus a way too much "eye-candy" that just won't look good up close. Though maybe that version will start paying the users to upgrade...

Apple has a very good opportunity this year to convince people to switch to a Mac instead of switching to Windows 8.

Alot of the new features seem to just bring over parts of IOS to the desktop enviroment where it makes sense and other features to put Mountain Lion over Windows 8.

I think Apple is in a very good position, and this should be a big year for Mac because it looks better than Windows 8. They are leveraging IOS appropiately on the desktop, instead of the backwards approach MS took with tacking the desktop onto a Mobile OS.

I don't see what is making a lot of readers have a conniption. I think this upgrade sounds great. I didn't get Lion mainly because I want to do a fresh install; I just haven't made the time to get organised. I think I'll wait now for Mountain Lion.

Hm, that is interesting. Are the only APIs affected those that relate to Apple-hosted services? I can understand why Apple would want to personally vet code that wants to access such services.

I'm not sure. That might make sense for iCloud, but I'd be surprised if notification center required any Apple-hosted services to run. Almost seems analogous to if Windows were to require software to be vetted and be able to receive a cut of revenue, for being able to use Windows notifications. Maybe I don't understand notification center fully, I'm not a Mac user (which isn't to say that I'm anti-Apple).

Notification Center is very much a cloud service. If the makers of an app I have want to tell me it has a new download available for me, they can send an alert to the Notification Center. If a friend invites me to play an online game, that request shows up through Notification Center.

It can also be used for local alerts, such as calendar events and reminders, but the point is that the online functionality is a key aspect of the service.

The inference of maximum security being only attainable through the App Store seems libelous, false ( http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2012/ ... curity.ars ), and made to create a kind of monopoly. They're basically making a totally untrue statement on their site, in order to lead users to buy apps through their portal, instead of somewhere else. This is very iffy.

Please learn what libel means.

Look it up, I know what it means.

They're misrepresenting facts in a way that will damage business of those who decide to sell applications outside of their App Store.

Then you should have no trouble being able to prove that it's false, that it's deliberately false, and that it will damage business of non-App Store applications.

Great...I don't like where OS X is heading, yet I also don't like where WIndows is going either with 8.

Linux is a non-starter for me. I have to make a living here and the applications I use just aren't available on Linux. I couldn't ask my clients "oh, I know you work in Photoshop and Illustrator, but hey, I work in the Gimp now only...so...um....could you switch to that too?"

I'm not liking the tablet-fication of the computer industry.

I feel the same way Good thing I can fix bicycles too so I can change carriers if I have to

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

The way I do this:

[the gesture four fingers up], this give the Mission Control overview then I drag the item I want to move to the space I want to move it to. Same amount of actions as it took in Spaces, it even takes a shorter time to accomplish!

Also I know NO ONE else cares but I really like file system ACLs. I use them a lot for my AFP and CIFS file shares on my server as it gives great granularity for what(I have soo many boxes that use network shares) can access pictures, video, audio, binaries, documents, my home folder, etc. As far as I know the open source version of ZFS does not include ACLs.

Define "open source version of ZFS"? The one that was originally sourced from Solaris had support for NFSv4-style ACLs pretty much from day one.

Ok, my bad. From what I remember it was only the solaris and open solaris versions that support ACLs, not the ports on other OSs. My info could be out of date though.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

The way I do this:

[the gesture four fingers up], this give the Mission Control overview then I drag the item I want to move to the space I want to move it to. Same amount of actions as it took in Spaces, it even takes a shorter time to accomplish!

You do not have to switch space to do this.

Thank you for the enlightenment on how to engage mission control, that's genious! did you even bother to read the issue I described? because your comment does not address it in any way, shape or form....

How tedious. And what good is an iMessage app if it can only message Apple devices?

What good is IE if it's Windows only?What good is BBM if it's BBOS only?What good is PS3 games if it's PS3 only?

There's about 100m iOS devices you can now message, for free, without any charges. Put another way, approximately 1/5 new smartphones are iOS, and 1/4 "in use" smartphones are iOS, so a good chunk of the population can in fact take advantage of this feature.

Still waiting for ZFS. Apple's file system is an embarrassment in a modern age where people's most valuable moments may exist in only a digital form and data corruption could be devastating or heartbreaking.

In which case I respectfully suggest making a backup of those valuable moments to avoid heartbreak. It's not like there's a shortage of backup options for any major OS out there.

You don't seem to understand the idea of data corruption. If the data is corrupted then so is the backup. Corrupted data will propagate to all backups. The only good option is a file system that stores redundant blocks and does integrity checks on the data not just the meta data. Ala ZFS.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

The way I do this:

[the gesture four fingers up], this give the Mission Control overview then I drag the item I want to move to the space I want to move it to. Same amount of actions as it took in Spaces, it even takes a shorter time to accomplish!

You do not have to switch space to do this.

Thank you for the enlightenment on how to engage mission control, that's genious! did you even bother to read the issue I described? because your comment does not address it in any way, shape or form....

You are most welcome!

If that is not what you are looking for, can I ask you to please re-phrase your critique rather than acting in a passive-agressive manner because I can only see one interpretation of the quoted part of your post? It seems to me you may not yet have learned to use Mission Control fully, I only intend to assist.

Notification Center is very much a cloud service. If the makers of an app I have want to tell me it has a new download available for me, they can send an alert to the Notification Center. If a friend invites me to play an online game, that request shows up through Notification Center.

It can also be used for local alerts, such as calendar events and reminders, but the point is that the online functionality is a key aspect of the service.

Well, that makes good sense then, and is likely the reason for the API limitations, rather than coming from a strategic marketing standpoint. Although, at some point it will effectively act the same way.

Hmmmm.....based on the other comment threads, I feel like we must have missed some opportunities for name calling and hyperbole along the way.

I know snapshots make the backend (rsync and hardlinks?) obsolete. What I want is TM where the backend is snapshots!!

To be clear, you can use the TM interface to browse a "Snapshot Depot", which is how the autosnapshots are stored in ZEVO, so there is a GUI on it. You can also of course just browse that from the Finder.

Quote:

Encryption is not an option for me on my laptop. I am the net admin for a large enterprise. The crap on my laptop cannot walk around unencrypted but I also use it as my primary personal laptop. Pictures, music, etc, etc.

If you require FDE then ZFS isn't an option right now, period, and you'll have to wait. Encrypted disk images/bundles though can run on anything, which may or may not meet your needs.

Quote:

I just don't see anyone but ZFS from Apple addressing these concerns.

I don't know why you think so, Apple wouldn't contribute anything to some of that except to maybe make it go faster. It's not like other third party RAID drivers and such with full bootability haven't been done in the past either. A lot will depend on the wider project and health of ZFS, but I don't think that's too far a leap. As I said though, no problem waiting for 1.1 or 2.0 . And who knows, seeing it done Apple may choose to start integrating it more.

Quote:

Also I know NO ONE else cares but I really like file system ACLs.

I use them a lot.

Quote:

As far as I know the open source version of ZFS does not include ACLs.

I have seen no issues with ACLs at all. I think your information is out of date.

Ok, fair enough. It's certainly possible I am not giving the open source guys enough credit on the pace of progress they are making. I still just think it's unconscionable that Apple is not addressing this issue themselves.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

Now that you mention it, I had forgotten about this feature and I do miss it. There needs to be a mission control for all desktops key.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

The way I do this:

[the gesture four fingers up], this give the Mission Control overview then I drag the item I want to move to the space I want to move it to. Same amount of actions as it took in Spaces, it even takes a shorter time to accomplish!

You do not have to switch space to do this.

Thank you for the enlightenment on how to engage mission control, that's genious! did you even bother to read the issue I described? because your comment does not address it in any way, shape or form....

You are most welcome!

If that is not what you are looking for, can I ask you to please re-phrase your critique rather than acting in a passive-agressive manner because I can only see one interpretation of the quoted part of your post? It seems to me you may not yet have learned to use Mission Control fully, I only intend to assist.

My description is quite clear, it is your reading comprehension that needs tweaking. See post by "Anita Man". somebody knows exactly what I mean. Maybe you never used spaces before which is why you have no base for comparison. Maybe you just discovered multiple desktops.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

Now that you mention it, I had forgotten about this feature and I do miss it. There needs to be a mission control for all desktops key.

What am I missing? It seems to me that I have been able to do this all the time. *confused*

anyone else getting the impression that with Apple and M$ both pushing this mobile desktop thing, that Linux keeps looking better and better? Viva la Desktop!

I'm not sure if its a push or them being pulled or a little bit of both. Certainly the vision included giving people mobile desktop experiences that approached the desktop experience. They certainly have been successful in making that vision reality. However, I don't know if they always planned/expected that effort to be so successful that it would also reshape expectations for traditional desktop computing.

The rest of the industries that consume IT are certainly pulling hard for increased mobile services because they are cheaper and easier to scale. Even if personal consumers arent influenced in the same way, its doesn't mean manufacturers won't lean to support commercial customers as a priority.

My description is quite clear, it is your reading comprehension that needs tweaking. See post by "Anita Man". somebody knows exactly what I mean. This is one of my main issues with Mission Control.

I can drag stuff to other spaces or the New Space Area (top left) when in Mission Control. Edit: I can't choose exactly where on the dropped space the window appears (it is the same as the source space), if that is what you are referring to?

One of the reasons I liked Macs was that they weren't antiques after three years.

Aside from their transition-related software shenanigans another reason newer Macs turn into draft excluders is unless you fork out for a tower it's like the most hellish Jenga game on earth to replace or upgrade anything. My MBP 2009 is easy enough to replace RAM or a hard drive but a Mac Mini? iMac? A $2000+ computer should not have you pulling off the glass with suction cups and digging out the screen (where there are conveniently easy to break connectors in the way) to replace a hard drive. I've had the good sense to avoid iMacs for that reason, at the expense of power, but a Mini's not much better.

Disappointing.. for power users who have been disappointed by Lion don't fall for the FUD, linux really is ready for your desktop if you're not cool with the tabletification/lockdown that Apple/MS are going for

How is this disappointing for power users? What could you do on Snow Leopard that you can’t on Lion? What can you do on Lion that you think, based on 10 quick feature overviews, you can’t on Mountain Lion? I always thought I was a power user, but I keep hearing about this “disappointment” by power users over the iOS-ification of OS X so I guess I’m not.

1- You cannot relocate an item to a different desktop/space unless you switch to the desktop/space where the item lives first. In contrast, with spaces you could simply look at your spaces and relocate from one desktop to another wihtout having to switch spaces/desktops first. This was a HUGE diversion in functionality from what made spaces/multiple desktop such a useful and powerful feature. Workflow broken

Now that you mention it, I had forgotten about this feature and I do miss it. There needs to be a mission control for all desktops key.

What am I missing? It seems to me that I have been able to do this all the time. *confused*

With spaces you can drag any window to another space, while you have to swipe to the space that window is in in order to move it with mission control. I only came to realize this when he mentioned it. It's not a big deal for me, but I surely would like to have the ability to do what I used to able to do.

The whole desktop, mirrored, showing anything you're doing, along with extra hooks for app developers to send a "fullscreen" stream to the AppleTV. That's exactly how Airplay mirroring on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S work.

Thanks, that makes perfect sense. I have neither a 4S nor an iPad so haven't used it.

Now that I understand what it means, I'm not yet seeing the applicability, at least in my use case. I don't think anyone in my household will want to sit in a different room and watch me surf Ars and mess around with finance spreadsheets on our TV. I'm sure someone will show me the light, but for now it's not an exciting feature for me.

Having said that, I just started using To-do items in SL iCal and I was wondering why the hell it wasn't integrated with Reminders on iOS. So I have that to look forward to, which is nice.